If "classic 2D adventure on Switch" puts the same tingle in your spine as it does mine, Mercury Steam will not lead you astray with this impressive sequel. Buy.

Keep an eye on Milestone's patch and update plans. If the company moves forward with customer-friendly moves, HWU may be a must-buy for arcade-racing fans. Until then, wait and see—unless the sales pitch of "Trackmania but prettier and more arcade-y" makes you want to immediately purchase. In which case, you'll have a good time.

If you're on board with his insane premise, this is best version of Death Stranding to get.

I will treasure my time with Kena: Bridge of Spirits and look forward to even bigger projects from Ember Lab to come. [Ars Technica Approved]

A must-rent if you own a Switch. A possible buy if shamelessly silly arcade-racing fun sounds up your alley.

Deathloop may ultimately go down as my biggest gaming disappointment of 2021. I love its "bonding" system for earning and keeping upgrades, which forces players to make some compelling choices from run to run. I like getting to know this game's cast of characters. I smile when a particular stretch of finding paths and sneaking around evokes the genius of this studio's best Dishonored levels. And I'm always down for shameless homages to Majora's Mask. But the total package collapses beneath a mix of too much ambition and not enough content. It's just hard to ignore signs that seem to imply someone on the production end said, "Eff it, let's ship this game already."

A certain party-playing crowd will overcome the awkward bits and have a blast. Most won't. Rent, don't buy.

The whole Double Fine team pulled it off. Psychonauts 2 is one of the best video games I have ever played, and if anything in this review sounds like you and your family's bag, don't hesitate to join me in loving the heck out of it. [Ars Technica Approved]

MSFS's beauty makes it must-play on Xbox Series X, even if only for a one-month free Xbox Game Pass trial. But while its console port is a technological triumph, it might still be too boring for a lot of players. Series S players should temper expectations with a bit less beauty.

But this many years later, it would've been nice for this new package to include some older Zelda games, much like how the Wii classic Super Mario Galaxy came in a $60 Switch package last year, original visuals similarly intact, with Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine in tow. If pandemic-related development issues are to blame for this week's uneven "HD" package, a few classic-gaming bonuses would've gone a long way for a project whose ambition didn't quite reach the clouds.

Perhaps the most important thing about F1 2021 is that Codemasters has not messed with the actual mechanics of driving the cars, beyond tweaks necessary for the 2021-spec cars. With a good force-feedback wheel, the cars are engaging to drive, and you can feel subtleties in cars from different teams—a McLaren handles differently from an Alpine, a Red Bull, or a Mercedes. If you're a fan of the sport, you'll probably enjoy F1 2021.

Rift Apart is a welcome and well-polished return to the Ratchet & Clank formula that has served Insomniac well for nearly two decades now. As long as you go in expecting that—and not yearning for some thrilling gameplay revolution driven by new hardware and technology—you’ll come out feeling satisfied.

Knockout City is a blast for tried-and-true online combat fans, thanks to its mix of instantly intriguing and powerful abilities and rock-paper-dodgeball strategy pivots. It's also an incredibly easy recommendation for kids and families, since it finally cracked the nut of an "online shooter" that offers the fun of a gun game without in any way resembling gunplay. Its cartoony aesthetic has grown on me, too, thanks to an art team that has balanced simple geometry with bold, enticing designs in a very Nintendo-like way. Assuming EA doesn't screw this up in the months to come, expect Knockout City to land on my list of 2021's best games of the year. [Ars Technica Approved]

Play RE7 first. If you want more of the same, lower your general expectations and revel in RE Village's improved gunplay. If not, skip.

I really like Returnal, but if you check the Ars Slack logs, you'll find that I complained quite a bit along the way. I needed a full 10 hours for its combat and universe to click in a crucial, "I want to beat this game" way, and I'm still left wondering how many good ideas and systems were left out of this game just to get its sky-high aspirations out the door. Maybe some of my positive bias comes from dreams of a sequel, which might build upon Housemarque's first stab at the genre. But I won't blame anyone for having less patience with Returnal's uneven ambition (or its $70 price point, which, from what I've seen, does not favorably compare to last year's $60 Last of Us Part 2 or Ghost of Tsushima, also published by Sony). But this is the stuff that keeps Sony fanboys drooling: ambitious new IP that succeeds more than it fails while turning the familiar into something fresh. Returnal clearly heralds a new era for Housemarque, in terms of turning the focused arcade-blasting likes of Super Stardust HD into quest-worthy 3D action. Keep it coming, Sony and Housemarque. [Ars Technica Approved]

Still, after 15 hours snapping thousands of photos of hundreds of distinct Pokémon, I feel like there are plenty of secrets left to be uncovered in New Pokémon Snap's varied environments. What's more, I'm eager to uncover them in quick, five or 10-minute safaris whenever I happen to have a Switch handy.

Transformative controls, mostly steady 30 fps combat make this a must-own on Switch.

For a so-called "automatic" game, Loop Hero sure presents enough questions and choices to get me invested in its missions, its accumulation of city structures, and its organic lessons about how to max out a particular loop. I haven't felt this surprised and engaged by a mix of new and familiar in a game since Slay the Spire. That description should terrify anybody who is not in need of another unique gaming obsession, because if my addiction is any indication, Loop Hero could very well burrow into your brain for the next few weeks. You've been warned. [Ars Technica Approved]

This is a survival game made by people who really like survival games—but don't necessarily like the genre's tedium....We've put games in our year-end lists for less potential than what I've already enjoyed in Valheim thus far, and I don't see us getting out of 2021 without repeating praise for this killer multiplayer adventure option on PC. [Early Access review]

Bowser’s Fury is a decent diversion for the four hours or so it'll take an experienced platform player to beat (with maybe four more hours of diversion for completionists). Overall, though, it feels like a half-baked proving ground for some new gameplay ideas that aren’t fully fleshed out as they would be in a standalone Mario release. But Bowser’s Fury works just fine as an added bonus packaged with an under-appreciated platforming gem from the Wii U era. If you’ve never played 3D World before, this is a great chance to catch up on a fresh take on 3D Mario design. If you’re mainly interested in Bowser’s Fury, though, maybe wait until the strong ideas get expanded into a full, standalone game.

The good outweighs the bad. Get a PlayStation Plus trial and give this imperfect car-combat gem a spin.

A solid if unambitious expansion pack—and that should tell you whether to buy this one or catch up on Hitman 2 instead.

After 20 hours or so, I'm excited to continue inhabiting the fascinating world of Night City and to discover more of its secrets as I meet its fascinating characters. But I'll be moving on prepared to turn a blind eye to some pretty big holes in that facade. [20 Hour Impressions]

Also, gosh, it's nice to only wait about eight seconds after a brutal death for the game to load your next life, instead of two whole minutes. That's just one of many ways Bluepoint makes the die-and-retry reality of a Souls-like so much easier to savor on a new console like PlayStation 5. If you own one, and you've got the patience and stomach for challenge, don't hesitate to purchase this remastered classic.

AC Valhalla gets just enough stuff right in its RPG-ized transition without blatantly copying fare like Dark Souls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Witcher III, or Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Ubisoft's latest history-trotting murder-for-honor journey strikes a proper balance between "familiar sequel," "RPG homage," and "just fresh enough," while still being quite fun to play. In some respects, particularly its handling of side quests, it's actually better than Ghost of Tsushima, a similar 2020 game that I otherwise prefer. If you've got the time (quite a bit of time, in this game's 30+ hour case) to invest in the bloody, honor-bound journey of some cool Vikings, and the proper hardware for it, don't miss what AC Valhalla has to offer.

Miles Morales may not be exceptionally original, but it’s a well-told, exceedingly human superhero story built on a strong, proven foundation of open-world mechanics. What better way to show off a new console?

In the end, the London of Watch Dogs: Legion feels a mile wide but only a few feet deep. What promises to be endless variety in character choice and hack-driven gameplay options quickly boils down to the repetition of the same old gameplay and plot tropes.

Mario's "battle royale" is too repetitive and rough for long-term play.